traversing the sierra nevadas

back to the maps, did a 40 odd mile trip back and forth to yosemite yesterday, the first time we have backtracked on this trip, so will show it as it is the first time today.  trying to tot up the mileage , will do the ground stuff tomorrow, but it is a lot with a further 200 + miles done today.









Left Cedar Lodge, told you I had a bad feeling about the slightly vacant feel to the place, not zombies, but there has been some real pain associated with this dwelling, a serial killer no less.  Glad Haydn hadn't alerted us to that before, sleep might have been even more disturbed.  would explain why our toilet flusher and shower hadn't been fixed, no-one wants to call in the handyman in this place.

that's why we came

First view of the day just inside Yosemite and our first few hundred feet up the Tioga Pass. We would eventually climb to just shy of 10000 feet.  Ben Nevis around half that at 4,500 for some sort of comparison. Wonder how that compares to some of the alpine summits my mountain rover family and friends?

Tales of the US most dangerous roads slightly exaggerated I feel, perhaps in the winter months.  The uphill absolutely fine, plenty of gasps, but only at the scenery. Stopping points allowed us to really drink in the views, and give the faster road users chance to get ahead of us.  Highlights were the Tenaya Lake (crystal clear) and Tuolomne Meadow (the land that time forgot), although the different climatic zones we were ascending through fascinating. Still some snow on the very highest alpine peaks but the road didn't quite go that far.

not as hard as this

breakfast stop atop a cliff

treeline

lake district

a meadow, up here?

Great to get the grooves going in the car, might need to turn your device to one side to get the full effect on this one

And in terms of today's hit, Bon Jovi have been played on the lovely Classic Rock channel so many times now ..

After leaving Yosemite at the summit the descent, on the right hand side allowed for some good views, but nothing intimidating.  Tested the brakes a few times, but was expecting some sheer, alpine switch backs a la tour de france, but nothing of that prowess.

looking ahead/down

looking up

heading down

And then we were down to 8000 feet, and the Tioga Pass conquered.  Nothing like the work the old pioneers would have had to do crossing the sierra nevadas, seeking out old Indian trails, eating their horses etc  A sat nav, 2 donuts and a few werthers originals and it was all over.

Spent the next couple of hours slowly descending but even now, at days end in Lone Pine, we are still at a Snowdonesque 3,500 feet.  Went through a few towns, all with their main street, you can see how they all are just built on the cowboy staging posts from the movies.  One long street, a few more motels than maybe the olden days, and less horses, but you catch my drift.

tioga pass over

highway to ...

toilet stop ?

pink floyd number plate, could it be?

And here we are in Lone Pine, a rather dowdy motel, small pool, and lots of people passing through.  Went out for a very short run in the desert heat, and an unnecessarily massive pizza, half of which will provide us with sustenance as we take the last chunk of our journey tomorrow for some modern R&R in our spiritual home of Vegas.

US trucks rock

having a bud, watching the game

medium?

-Carys-

Today was another driving sort of day. We left through Yosemite National Park and started driving upwards. On the road we stopped quite a few times. The terrain was quite rocky and uneven, and the ground was mostly dust and sand. It was very different, almost beginning to look like a desert.

We also stopped at one point by a beautiful small beach. The water was very blue and behind it sat mountains, towering over. Once we'd got back in the car we started the descent from the high pass. The highest we reached was around 10,000 feet!

It didn't takwe too long to reach flat ground, and soon we wre driving along endless, open road. The air became even hotter, and the sun heat increased with every metre we drove, beaming down at us.

When we reached Lone Pine, a quite small and very quiet town, we settled down in our motel. Everything was very still. We wallowed in the WiFi, glad to have it back, being the slightly tech-obsessed people we are.

I decided to go out to enjoy the sun by the pool with mum. WE read there for a while, but I decided against going in the pool. Dad returned from his run so we all got ready to go out for dinner.

We saw 'The Pizza Factory' on the way into Lone Pine, so decided to go there. I ordered a Meat Feast (medium) and once I'd eaten half, I realised it was a little bit too much. I did enjoy it though. WE asked for boxes to take the pizza remains back to the hotel in, to enjoy tomorrow on the road to Vegas...